Blues equal 'life' to keyboardist Jackie Ivory

Musician returns to city to play a 'history' lesson.

Musician returns to city to play a 'history' lesson.

April 26, 2007

His "Green Onions" brought a rousing ovation. Jackie Ivory, a masterful blues and soul performer, was back in South Bend, playing Sunday night at the Anchor Inn on Western Avenue. "I'm going to play a history of blues tonight," Ivory told the crowd. "So sit back and relax and enjoy the blues." The audience was a small but attentive group of fans and musicians who learned by word of mouth that Ivory would be giving a two-hour lesson in the blues. Ivory, 70, who grew up in South Bend, has been a professional musician for some five decades, playing around the country with some big names in the industry. He taught himself to play the piano as a child. "I learned to play the piano by ear over 60 years ago at the Herring House (a community center) right here in South Bend," Ivory said. "It's funny because I was about 3 or 4 and my fingers could hardly touch the keys. I had been playing a while before my mother found out and insisted that I take private lessons." Grant Ivory Jr., nicknamed Jackie, was born in Arkansas but moved here as a child. He graduated from Central High School in 1955 but soon moved to East Chicago, Ind., where he worked in a steel mill during the week and played music on the weekends. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1959 and served until being honorably discharged in 1962. He toured for 14 years with Willis Jackson and Junior Walker and the All-Stars."I started doo-wop as a teenager and at the age of 27 made my first recording for Dunwich Productions, 'Soul Discovery.'" Besides Walker and Wilson Pickett, Ivory has played with such artists as John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Warm, generous and brimming with a half-century's worth of stories, Ivory loves to talk about his music. "Blues to me is life as we are living it today, how I believe we will be living it tomorrow and as I know so well, we were living it in the past," he said. "It's what you feel, what comes in your mind and you feel it all though your bones." His drummer, Kirk Wright, recalls watching Ivory on television. "I saw him on 'Soul Train' playing with Junior Walker and the All-Stars," said Wright. "Later the same year I saw him playing with Wilson Pickett." Wright, now 52, was 19 when he first played with Ivory. "I sat in on a jam session at the Sophisticated Lady Club that used to be on the corner of Western Avenue and Kentucky Street," Wright said. "I sat in on drums, and I was very nervous. ... I can say it's an honor for me to be playing with him again." Ivory, who has lived and played in various cities, is currently living in South Bend and doing what he loves most. His latest CD is titled "Laying in the Cut." "I've tried to show people that the music I play is a part of America's music," Ivory said. "You can dance to it, you can cry over it, you can be happy on it. I'm at a place in my life where I'm proud of what I do and I'm planning to keep on doing it as long as my fingers can tickle the ivories." Listen to May Lee Johnson live at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays on WUBS-FM (89.7).Staff writer May Lee Johnson: mjohnson@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6326 May Lee Johnson Tales from the West Side May Lee Johnson is a Tribune staff writer.